Metastatic distribution in malignant melanoma. A 30-year autopsy study.

The metastatic pattern is described in 75 cases of malignant melanoma coming to autopsy over a 30-year period. Skin primaries were identified in 62 of them. Males outnumbered females in this, as in other autopsy studies. Metastases to lungs, liver and bone were interrelated and associated with further dissemination. Cerebral metastases occurred more often in initially localized lesions and were associated with few other metastases. It is stressed that detailed examination of the brain at autopsy is needed to identify cerebral involvement, and that brain scans may be indicated particularly in patients with seemingly localized primaries to identify latent cerebral involvement.